Newsom calls for 25th Amendment after Trump’s remarks on California

President Trump is stoking outrage among California Democrats and at least one House GOP candidate after he suggested at a midterm rally that he would allow Iran to “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) led the charge, telling The Hill on Tuesday that Trump is “mentally ill.”

“TIME FOR THE 25TH!” the governor said in a statement.

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The sentiment follows a social media post from Newsom on Monday where he called Trump “deranged and dangerous.”

Newsom is widely seen as a prospective presidential contender for Democrats in 2028.

“Gavin Newscum is the worst governor in America, and he also may be the dumbest,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in response to the remarks.

Newsom was far from the only California politician lashing out at Trump, however.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) said Trump’s remarks are “dangerous and could potentially compromise our safety,” while San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria (D) told Trump in his own statement to “keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”

Meanwhile, Republican Jim Desmond, who is running for a San Diego-area House district, said he “vehemently” disagrees with the president.

“No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage,” Desmond wrote on social media.

The president’s statement risks firing up Democrats ahead of the midterms as Republicans struggle to galvanize their own base.

“While the president’s statement may get laughs in Nebraska, in California it highlights why our state’s voters passionately dislike Trump,” said Matthew Klink, a California-based Republican strategist.

“Last night, apparently, the feeling became mutual,” he added.

The White House has vehemently pushed back against what it has called an unfair characterization of Trump’s remarks.

Steven Cheung, the White House’s communications director, said on social media that the “media freakout” over the comments “is not rooted in reality.”

“He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money,” Cheung wrote on social platform X.

But even some Trump allies didn’t see it that way.

“While it’s clear the president was joking, it’s not helpful to have these comments out there with a month to go,” said one former Trump campaign aide who is involved in the midterm efforts. “This isn’t his first time at the movie and he knows better. He knows when something is said even in jest, it’s a distraction for us.”

“It basically means that instead of focusing on Democrats, we’re addressing something he said,” the former aide said.

Democrats, meanwhile, were pleased to see California lawmakers like Newsom call out Trump on his comments.

“Good for Gavin, as he should,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne. “Few people in modern American history have tried to turn the country against each other or use the bully pulpit of the presidency to turn people against each other more than Donald Trump.”

“Wishing harm on his own constituents that he is accountable to is as close to unforgivable as you could imagine for a public official and there will be little more than a peep from Republicans to call him out about it,” Payne added.

Garry South, a Democratic strategist based in California and a former adviser to Newsom, said the California governor was “right on” to call out Trump for “suggesting a foreign adversary target cities in his state.”

“Los Angeles is home to the largest expatriate Iranian community outside of Iran, not that ignoramus Trump probably knows that, but it makes it doubly egregious to put an Iranian target on Southern California,” South said.

Trump’s remarks are having a particular impact in Desmond’s race for California’s 48th Congressional District, which is one of the last few competitive races left in the state.

“He goes to Nebraska last night to rally the base, but the storyline of it will be Republican candidates in difficult races needing to once again distance themselves from the president,” said Rob Stutzman, a veteran California Republican strategist.

However, one Republican operative argued that the situation could help candidates like Desmond who were already seeking to put distance between themselves and the president in the blue state.

“Democrats have spent this entire race trying to convince voters that Jim Desmond would be simply a rubber stamp for President Trump,” the GOP operative said. “His statement yesterday is a pretty clear cut against that argument.”

Trump’s comment about the two Southern California cities was not the only controversial remark he made on the campaign trail Monday.

Trump used an anti-trans slur to refer to South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Annie Andrews in a Truth Social post while en route to last night’s rally in Nebraska.

“One of the biggest problems Republicans are facing is that the president of their party is unhinged,” Stutzman said. “He is being extremely counterproductive on the road to Republican political objectives.”